Submarine SMASH Day Reflection

1. Summarize

2. Reflect

3. Tips and Suggestion  ca

-----------------------------------

1. 

     On Tuesday, February 10, 2009, we had SMASH Day.

 After hearing the very popular song by the Beatles, 'The Yellow Submarine,'  we immediately jumped into our monthly challenge. Our mission was to able to build a periscope to identify seven items or 'treasures' located in the cardboard box or 'the island.' We were provided with materials, which we put to use to complete our mission. The materials were multiple pieces of paper, long pieces of tape, and a big piece of cardboard, and also with four compact mirrors. With less than a hour, we had to make a homemade working periscope and identify the seven treasures. 

2.

     The way we approached this task was that we first drew a diagram, which we used as a hypothesis. In our diagram, we drew out how we thought with the materials provided, and how we could create a periscope with reflecting mirrors. We aimed to use the mirrors to reflect images so that from underwater in my group's submarine, we would be able to use the reflected imagery to see the 'treasures'. 

     Although, we did come across several problems that caused my group and I to modify the design. Since we were using cheap, recyclable scrap paper, we thought to give it firmer support, which the first model did not have. For a firmer support, we used cardboard because cardboard is relatively firmer than paper. We were able to communicate and modify because we all realized that without there being an adjustment, our periscope would not be upright. And also due to the fact that our periscope turned out to be long... It resulted in a little bit of floppiness. So, with fellow teammates there, we were able to lend each other a hand and help lift the periscope up. We were able to spot mistakes and then modify the design after experimenting. 

     

3.

     For future teams that work on this, I advise them to think simple... We modeled our design after an after periscope, but were not able to make the mirrors reflect off of each other so that from below the table or 'underwater', we could view the objects in the cardboard box or 'the island.' Surprisingly, the big winners were a group of people who kept it simple. So, the future teams who are faced with the challenge should definitely think outside the box.